Hawthorne - Burbank - Long Beach

On February 18, 1969 at 05:10 AM, Hawthorne - Burbank - Long Beach experienced a crash involving Douglas C-49 (DC-3), operated by Hawthorne Nevada Airlines, with the event recorded near Lone Pine California.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

35 people were known to be on board, 35 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 32, passenger fatalities: 32, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While cruising by night under VFR mode, the crew changed his route from 170° to 195° direction Palmdale as they thought flying over the valley. Shortly later, the airplane struck a ridge and crashed down the slope of Mt Whitney (11,770 feet high) located about 12,5 miles west of Lone Pine. SAR operations were quickly conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 35 occupants was found. The wreckage was located in a very hazardous area on August 8, 1969 and was not detectable till this date due to snow accumulation on the ground. The accident was unsurvivable.

Aircraft reference details include registration N15570, MSN 6320, year of manufacture 1943.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 36.5832°, -118.0783°.